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Sertões 2023: Lucas Moraes focuses on the first big goal as Toyota's official driver.
The main highlight of the last Dakar attempt was the triple championship of the Sertons Rally alongside the navigator Kaíque Bentivoglio
The success in international races and the incredible podium at the Dakar Rally immediately at the debut put Brazilian Lucas Moraes on the radar of Toyota Gazoo Racing, one of the most celebrated sports arms of the automotive industry. Confirmed as an official driver by the Japanese factory a month ago, Moraes this week begins the campaign for the first big goal of the partnership: to fight for victory in the 31st edition of the BRB Sertons Rally, alongside the navigator Kaique Bentivoglio. The duo is the current champion of the race.
The Sertões will be played between August 11 and 19, with a total of 3.793km, being 2.027km timed and valid for the win. The race will pass through three states of the Northeast: Pernambuco, Bahia and Ceará, going from Petrolina (PE), in the Nordestino Semiárido, to Praia do Preá, in the city of Cruz, coastal Ceará.
Also included in the Red Bull program, another coveted international platform for supporting leading drivers in world sport, Moraes is the only Brazilian to use the colors of two highly prestigious programs in motorsport. He and Bentivoglio also have the support of the companies SpeedMax (PneuStore), Zapälla, Strava, and Sparco, which, alongside Red Bull and Toyota, have their colors and logos in the carrier of the Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ operated in Brazil by the team MEM Motorsports.
"The time has come. Sertões is our great challenge here in Brazil. The car arrived in the country last week. Immediately we did the shakedown (system verification training) on a farm in the interior of São Paulo and he followed with the team to Petrolina, where it will be the departure of the Sertões next Friday. Now, it's worth it. We are ready for the challenge," commented Lucas Moraes.
"We have several competitors of very high level in this year’s edition, some with Dakar cars. In the competition as a whole, we have several pilot-navigator-car sets with potential for victory in a race that will take almost four thousand kilometers. We hope to be among them, fighting for good results every day of the Sertões. I am not tired of repeating to everyone on the team: it will be a huge challenge for all of us. But we are ready," Moraes concluded.
The 31st edition of the BRB Sertões Rally begins with the 13-kilometer prologue in Petrolina, which will define the starting order on Saturday, the second of the nine days of competition. The first is Friday, with the times of the prologue itself valid for the dispute.
Automatic translation from the original Brazilian-Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: Red Bull Toyota Gazoo Racing Team
Photo: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool
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